This year is a special one for South Africa as the country celebrates 360 years of winemaking* and 25 years of democracy, and Dartnall – from the acclaimed Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient in Elandsfontein – is the perfect choice to represent this country’s burgeoning food and wine culture.
Dartnall has regularly been feted on the international stage and is no stranger to showcasing South African gastronomy to a global market. Twice voted South African Chef of the Year and chosen as the World’s Best Female Chef in 2017 at the Best Chef Awards, she was recently placed in the top 200 Chefs of the World by the influential La Liste Awards in Paris late last year.
To add to these accolades, she not only brought home the coveted Grand Award from New York’s Wine Spectator, as one of only 84 restaurants awarded for the best wine cellars around the globe, but also received the award for the Best Hotel Wine List in the World from London’s World of Fine Wine and ended last year by being crowned with the Best Wine Cellar Award during the world renowned La Liste Awards in Paris.
Chef Chantel will be presenting her Mosaic Botanical Journey as the celebrations commence with the gala opening dinner on Thursday, April 11, and thereafter over a two-day period with a set five-course lunch menu and a set seven-course dinner menu on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13. Sunday, April 14, marks the end of the celebrations with a final five-course gala lunch together with the winemakers, importers, distributors and invited guests.
The setting is the Skye Restaurant at The Pullman Park Lane in Hong Kong where Dartnall – accompanied by two members of her Mosaic team, Antro Davel and Anna Stoffberg – will join forces with executive head chef of the Skye Restaurant, Chef Lee Adams.
Dartnall is devising some extraordinary dishes especially for the occasion such as her African Aromas which consists of beef fillet, kumquat preserve and madumbi puree. She will also showcase some recent Restaurant Mosaic favourites including Under the Veil, a composition of langoustine, white peach and hibiscus; Francolin Forest Fungi, a risotto and truffle extravaganza and, for dessert, The Earth Laughs in Flowers, which combines passionfruit, Valrhona chocolate and violets in a riot of colour and flavour.
Wines that will be showcased at Dartnall’s various events include Meerlust, Hartenberg, Bellingham, Ken Forrester, Villiera, Klein Constantia, Boekenhoutskloof, Thelema, Vergelegen, Radford Dale and Nederburg.
On Monday, April 15, the Mosaic team will depart Hong Kong for Macau where Dartnall will be presenting a seven-course dinner at the Wynn Hotel. The following day she will be giving a masterclass to young chefs and sommeliers and share her botanical philosophy and approach to food and wine pairing.
Says Dartnall: “I am honoured to be able to not only showcase South Africa’s booming food and wine culinary scene, but also Mosaic’s botanical cuisine. At Mosaic, we are renowned for both our wine cellar and our feminine approach to food and wine pairings, so to do this on an international stage as South Africa’s ambassador is a great honour and a dream come true for me.
“Having participated with some of the best chefs and cooked in numerous fine dining kitchens around Europe in my career, I now look forward to meeting and working with some of Hong Kong’s top chefs and exchanging ideas while also showing them what we do in South Africa. As a chef it is important for me to know what is happening in my industry across the globe and I enjoy meeting other chefs, sometimes working with them, and experiencing their creativity. It inspires me to continuously re-invent myself to ensure that our quality at Mosaic is equal to what one would encounter in the best restaurants around the globe!”